Error message for business mileage calculation

[AliciaP1 · Accepted solution]

Since you are reporting 0 business miles, you need to be reporting 0 total miles (since vehicle miles are not deductible personally).  Once you have zeroed out the miles completely, with a zero in each of the boxes Total miles driven for all purposes:, Miles driven from 1/1/2022 to 6/30/2022:, and Miles driven from 7/1/2022 to 12/31/2022 and leave the Commuting miles box empty, you will be able to proceed with reviewing and filing your return.

To get to the screen to enter this in TurboTax Home & Business you can follow these steps:

1. Within your tax return click on the  Business tab and Business Income and Expenses under that
2. Select I'll choose what I work on
3. Click Update for Profit or Loss from Business
4. Click Edit on the line of work you want to update
5. Scroll down to Business Vehicle Expense and click Update
6. Click Edit for the vehicle you need to change
7. Click Continue through the vehicle details until you get to the How do you want to enter your mileage for your XXX screen
8. Enter 0 for Total miles driven for all purposes:, Miles driven from 1/1/2022 to 6/30/2022:, and Miles driven from 7/1/2022 to 12/31/2022 boxes
9. Continue and answer questions for the vehicle until you get back to the Vehicle Summary screen
10. Click Done and proceed entering/reviewing your return

@UpsideDown

[UpsideDown]

@AliciaP1 

Thank you!!!  That did it!  I was able to e-file successfully!

For anyone else who reads this thread, the "Total miles driven for all purposes" field in TurboTax corresponds to line 5c on the Car and Truck Expenses worksheet.

@Superfly I recommend trying the approach suggested by AliciaP1 - it worked for me, and it kept the worksheet in my TurboTax file.

[Yanikk]

I’m having the exact same issue and it keeps giving an error messgae

[AnnetteB6]

There are a couple of different issues discussed in this thread.  Please clarify what error message you are seeing and someone should be able to give you further assistance.  

@Yanikk 

[wgd]

I think I did as you suggested but now I get flags for date sold Sch C, 43; number of business miles (Sch C, 6a)

[wgd]

Business miles cleared up but now it continues to ask about date sold.  All I had was zero business miles.  I continue to own the truck and may use it in 2023 for busines .

[MarilynG1]

You should be able to enter 0 for Business Miles driven.  If you indicated you 'stopped using the car for business' you will be asked for a date you sold, traded in, etc. 

If you didn't use the vehicle for business at all in 2022, and entered 0 for both mileage sections, you may get a Review error, but should be able to continue past it.  

If you indicated you use the vehicle for both Personal and Business, you may need to enter a 'Total Miles Driven' number in any case, so TurboTax doesn't think you stopped using it; you just didn't have any Business Miles to enter. 

If you're using TurboTax Desktop, you can make the entries directly on the Vehicle Expenses Worksheet in Forms mode.  

@wgd 

[cbco7]

@AliciaP1 I have a similar situation to OP and was able to get rid of the Car & Truck worksheet error using your most recent advice about zeroing out total miles; thank you. 

I do have a related question - depreciation was never taken on my vehicle, I was only taking the mileage deductions, and in 2022 had zero business miles. I closed my sole proprietorship in 2022, and will file one last Sched. C with my 2022 Form 1040. I tried experimenting with different answers in the Step-by-Step to indicate that it is now being used for personal use only, but TurboTax insists on asking questions about the sale price (it wasn't sold and it was never considered a business asset) and other questions that aren't relevant or lead me down a path that isn't applicable 

My question is, if I don't file a Sched. C for the 2023 tax year next year, will this vehicle still live on, zombie-like, in TurboTax going forward, and keep asking for information about this vehicle? If so, is there anything I should enter/do this year to avoid that issue? Again, thank you for any guidance here.

[RobertB4444]

The sale price for a personal conversion is zero dollars.

If you skip the sch C for 2022 and don't tell the system that you closed the business and got rid of the vehicle then yes, it will absolutely follow you like a zombie for years to come.

@cbco7 

[Xxsierra1986]

@AmyC 

@pandora1988 

Were you able to e-file with no problem while getting this check error prompt?

I am getting the same needs review- for a vehicle I didn't enter mileage for from  1/1-6/30/22 because I didn't use it until September.  It says business miles should be 0 but it is. 

Was it just a check point to bring it to your attention? It doesn't go away when I click continue. This is the first year I've deducted mileage, so I haven't encountered this before. 

Thanks!

[AliciaP1]

You need to be sure your Total Miles and the miles listed from 7/1 - 12/31/22 are correct as well as having a 0 in the 1/1 - 6/30/22 box.

To get back to your mileage entries in TurboTax Online you can follow these steps:

1. Within your tax return use the magnifying glass icon to search for Schedule C
2. Click the Jump to link
3. Click Edit for the line of work
4. Scroll down to Vehicle expenses and click Edit
5. Click Edit for the vehicle you need to update
6. Continue until you get to the How do you want to enter your mileage for this XXX? screen
7. Verify your Total Miles, enter 0 for 1/1 - 6/30, and verify your 7/1 - 12/31 miles and Continue

@Xxsierra1986 

[Xxsierra1986]

@AliciaP1 

Thanks for the response!

Actually the correct way to enter it was to leave the box that had the 0 in it blank. I kept getting the same error message over and over and couldn't successfully move on. After re- reading the error message multiple times,  I realized it was in the wording. I had a 0 in the first box and the message was telling me it should be blank. The 0 was messing it up and TurboTax could not compute what the 0 meant! I erased the 0 on both of my car worksheets and it worked just fine!

In case anyone else comes across this error pop up. 

[aw1234]

@AliciaP1   Need help. I get the same error messages during Federal Review and not able to get rid of these.

I did what you recommended -- 

>>> Enter 0 for Total miles driven for all purposes:, Miles driven from 1/1/2022 to 6/30/2022:, and Miles driven from 7/1/2022 to 12/31/2022 boxes

>>> leave the Commuting miles box empty

Error Messages says:        Check This Entry

Car & Truck Expenses Worksheet : Business miles - The sum of business miles before 07/01/2022 and business miles after 06/30/2022 must be greater than zero.

I am using TT-Premier undated to Home & Business on my laptop -- downloaded on 11Mar2022.

Thank you.

[aw1234]

@AliciaP1 

Just correcting typos in the last statement.

I am using TT-Premier updated to Home & Business on my laptop -- downloaded on 11Mar2023.

[AliciaP1]

I cannot recreate your issue in a test return.  It would be helpful to have a TurboTax ".tax2022" file that is experiencing this issue.

You can send us a “diagnostic” file that has your “numbers” but not your personal information.  If you would like to do this, here are the instructions: 

Go to the black panel on the top of your screen and select Online. 

1. Scroll down to and select Send tax file to Agent. 
2. You will see a message explaining what the diagnostic copy is.  Click send through this screen and then you will get a Token number. 
3. Reply to this thread with your Token number. This will allow us to open a copy of your return without seeing any personal information.  

We will then be able to see exactly what you are seeing and we can determine what exactly is going on in your return and provide you with a resolution.

@aw1234